Brooke Mueller—stop minimizing what Charlie did to you.

Stop having your lawyer,Yale Galanter, tell the world that the alleged incidence of Charlie choking you and holding a knife to your throad is a “private matter!!”

Brooke–getting “allegedly” assaulted by your husband is not a private matter–it’s a crime! You and your lawyer are so 25 years ago. It used to be that there were husbands that routinely beat up their wives (unfortunately, there still are) and the authorities ALWAYS looked away. Domestic violence was always considered a private matter. Women had no recourse. They walked around black and blue, and they also got killed. Many still do.

Women’s groups fought hard to get “wife battering” taken seriously. Thank God that it is taken seriously now.

So Brooke, you may still love Charlie and may sincerely want to reconcile, get marital counseling and live happily ever after.

I wish you all the best. But that won’t happen if Charlie doesn’t “want” to change and doesn’t get serious anger management counseling AND stop drinking.

“This is NOT a private family matter—violence is everybody’s business, it’s against the law,” agrees Sheryl Cates, CEO of the National Domestic Violence Hotline. “If a couple wants to work on their relationship, safety is the first thing that has to happen.”

And Brooke, you have to be aware that violent incidents don’t usually happen just once. “We don’t see these as one-time episodes—these incidents happen over and over again,” explains Cates.

And finally Brooke—you don’t need to worry about not having enough money to raise your twin boys, no matter how ungenerous your pre-nup. The state of California will order Charlie—as the income earner—to pay child support whether he wants to or not, says LA family lawyer, Michael G. Dave.

Since he’s a VERY high income earner—you will be fine.

Your priority needs to be the safety of you and your kids. And that’s everybody’s business, too!